The CD East Panthers have played well at times this season. The team turned in solid games against Cumberland Valley, Cedar Cliff, and Red Land. But they also had games in which they were badly outplayed, such as yesterday’s loss to Carlisle. One of the reasons for East’s early struggles is the number of unforced errors plaguing the team. Recognizing this, Coach Kern, fielded a slightly altered lineup for their game against Chambersburg.

One glance at the final result would seem to indicate the changes had little effect, but those who attended the game would say otherwise. East came out and moved the ball around the pitch better than they had the previous three games. This more free flowing approach on offense created a number of opportunities which resulted in a handful of early shots for CD East. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the shots would find the crossbar rather than the back of the net. Had either of those first two shots gotten past Trojan keeper Jacob Sempowski, the outcome of this contest may have changed in East’s favor.

Buoyed by their good fortune, the Trojans would counter when Clayton Cox (assist by Ian Berrier) drove home the first goal off of a corner kick at the six minute mark. Chambersburg would add three more goals, Bryce Stouffer (Josh Brenize), 20th, Berrier (Stouffer), 28th, Austin Frazer (Marc Furfaro), 36th, before the half ended. The Panthers defense held firm until the 73rd minute when Sam Franchi (assist by Nick Shandera) scored the first of three goals the Trojans would net in just four minutes to close out the scoring. It was a bitter pill to swallow for an East team that had played so well for a majority of the second half.

So what can the Panthers take away from this latest setback? Well for one thing, they had more shots on goal (6) against Chambersburg than they had managed over the past three games. East also controlled the ball for longer stretches of time and put more pressure on Chambersburg throughout the game than against their previous three opponents. Ball movement improved and the number of passes increased over previous games. So despite being outscored, East proved it has some exciting playmakers that are capable of turning things around. Going forward the Panthers have to learn to protect the ball better when in possession of it and perhaps most important, they must learn to trust each other as players on a soccer team rather than individuals who believe they must do it all when the ball is on their foot.